Ho ho ho! What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the holiday season? What festive place full of Christmas cheer? Why, Okinawa, of course! So pull on that embarrassing aloha shirt with the snowman on it that your grandma knitted you, tie some reindeer to your surfboard and let’s see if we can’t ride the crest of this ridiculous idea for another three paragraphs! (Spoiler: I bail immediately!)
Ho! Ho! Ho! It’s Christmas time.
Tenshi no Red Ale Aroma and Taste
This silly, silly beer pours like your bog standard red ale. The nose is slight, and malty. I gave it a sip, and almost screamed as horrifying flashbacks of Goya Dry scorched across my temporal lobe. There’s a vegetabley taste here. Helios. What are you doing to me. I’ve been informed (by the can) that it was the sweetness of the malt being allowed to come through. To me it tastes like someone in the recipe department saying “let’s make a red ale that tastes like no other red ale! Not in a good way, though! Just any way we can! Leave this malt out in the sun for a while! What month is it, July? Who cares! Also, what’s ‘Christmas’?”.
It seems to me that Helios hasn’t quite worked out their limited-quantity, specialty beers in the way that Baird has. While the latter has a very specific vision for their eighty kabillion seasonal beers – we’re talking fresh and light Mikan Ale in summer, pumpkin ale around autumn and thick, warming, strong fare in winter; Bryan Baird is the Steve Jobs of Japanese craft beer – Helios is still dicking around with stereotypical dreck like Goya Dry (aka the Green Death), and this boring and uninspired red ale.
I’m starting to lose faith in Helios somewhat. No, that’s not right. The people I’m losing faith in are the ones who are marketing Helios to mainland Japan. If only we can see some more of their regular beers, and less of the “look at what OKINAWAN beer is like! Did we mention it’s OKINAWAN? From OKINAWA?”.
Tenshi no Red Ale One Line Review
There’s nothing special about this limited-batch seasonal. Don’t bother with Tenshi no Red Ale. Don’t give up on Helios just yet, though. They deserve the benefit of the doubt. Their regular beers are great, if a bit bananas at times.
Where to Buy Tenshi no Red Ale
I bought my can of Tenshi no Red Ale at Seijo Ishii in Terrace Mall, Tsujido. It’s popping up around higher-end supermarkets.
